Kitts Hummock, Delaware
Unincorporated community
Kitts Hummock is located in Delaware
Kitts Hummock
Kitts Hummock
Kitts Hummock is located in the United States
Kitts Hummock
Kitts Hummock
Coordinates: 39°6′9″N 75°24′8″W / 39.10250°N 75.40222°W / 39.10250; -75.40222
CountryUnited States
StateDelaware
CountyKent
Elevation
3 ft (0.9 m)
Time zoneUTC-5 (Eastern (EST))
 • Summer (DST)UTC-4 (EDT)
Area code302
GNIS feature ID214198[1]

Kitts Hummock is an unincorporated community in Kent County, Delaware, United States. Kitts Hummock is located on the Delaware Bay at the end of Kitts Hummock Road, southeast of Dover.[2] It was originally named "Kidds Hammock" after 17th century pirate Captain William Kidd and rumors he buried treasure there.[3] The "Hammock" referred to is the ecological version, meaning a stand of hardwood trees, and the name was inadvertently changed by employees of the Delaware Department of Transportation.[4] A hummock is a similar rise in elevation, leading some to believe the reasoning behind the name.[5]

Kitts Hummock Beach is an official sanctuary for horseshoe crabs, the state marine animal of Delaware and a "signature species" of the Delaware Bay Estuary.[6]

References

  1. ^ "Kitts Hummock". Geographic Names Information System. United States Geological Survey, United States Department of the Interior.
  2. ^ Delaware Department of Transportation (2008). Delaware Official Transportation Map (PDF) (Map). Dover: Delaware Department of Transportation.
  3. ^ "Place Names Reveal Loyalties, Eccentricities of State Pioneers". The Morning News. Wilmington, Delaware. April 29, 1958.
  4. ^ "Kidds Hammock Correct Name, Research Shows". The News Journal. Wilmington, Delaware. September 18, 1974.
  5. ^ "These 12 Towns in Delaware Have the Strangest Names You'll Ever See". March 23, 2020.
  6. ^ "EcoDelaware.com: Kitts Hummock Beach, an official horseshoe crab sanctuary"
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